Chapter 20

Demon's Battle Cave, Second Day, First Fight

Ryu woke and stretched mightily. After using the 'fresher station, he looked into the mirror, trimmed his beard and noticed that the bruising on his face had faded significantly but was still evident. He also noticed that the cuts were healed completely but there was considerable capillary action just under his skin where the cuts had healed overnight and jumped into the shower. After drying off except his hair, he got dressed in his spare Gi, his belt from the day before and tied his headband back on and let the air dry his hair and his headband as it absorbed stray water droplets. Going down to the dining area he ate a small bowl of fruit, washed it down with a glass of water and threw his bag over his shoulder as he walked out the door. Nirri caught up with him when he was half way to the Cave. She looked as though she hadn't slept well, he could see it in her eyes and a couple of small wrinkles in her suit.

"You look as though you didn't sleep too well Nirri," he said.

She said, "Yea, you could say that. I had the strangest dreams."

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

She answered, "Why not; usually my dreams are the normal dreams of a preadolescence. Dreams of fame or notoriety, fantasies, that kind of thing, but last night's were different."

"Different how?" he asked.

She answered, "The images bounced around a lot. I could see myself with you at the fights sometimes, other times I was fighting for you, even against you. I saw myself walking into the Temple with you and without you as well. I saw my reflection and that was the weirdest, so weird it woke me up in a cold sweat."

When Nirri shivered involuntarily, Ryu asked, "What did you see when you looked in the mirror?"

Nirri said, "I saw half my face in light just like I see it every morning when I wake up, and the other half in shadow, scowl lines running down from my eye and mouth and my eye is a frightening combination of colors. The outermost is still white but an angry bloodshot red iris with an inner ring of sickly yellow and blacker than black pupil. When I focused on the red-yellow side, I felt a greasy tang in the pit of my stomach like I'd just ingested something carbonated too fast. The other eye, when I focused, I could see myself sitting in a room surrounded by others. I felt safe and warm and protected. Let me ask you Ryu, do you feel as though our dreams can tell us things?" Rapping her forehead with a knuckle as if to knock some sense into her head she said more to herself, "What am I saying, you're a Jedi Master, of course your dreams tell you things."

Ryu said, "Yes, I am a Jedi Master, but I'm also still a man. A man with the gift of the Force, but a man still. I still dream of some of the same things that others do. My wife, my children becoming full Jedi, with all of the rights and the responsibilities that entails; my son just took his Trials a little over two standard months ago, my daughter will be ready very soon now, I'm sure. I still fear for their safety sometimes, but that just comes with being a parent. I hope they'll find that one special person to share their respective lives with; start families of there own and be happy. Sometimes the Force speaks to me through my dreams just as it clearly did to you last night. Like I told you last night at dinner, you're nearing a crossroads, where you will be tempted by the Dark Side. That's what your altered eye represents in your dream. Although we don't have any surviving images of any Sith Lords to verify the eye color, what few written descriptions we do have seem to coincide with your dream. The clear eye in your dream and the image of you surrounded by others who care for you and are listening to you is representative of you embracing the Light Side. Remember Nirri, it all comes down to choices that only you can make."

Nirri remained silent as she though over what Ryu had told her. Ryu stopped for a moment, took a deep breath as if to brace himself and continued walking, a little slower for a few steps and then resumed his normal pace.

Ryu said, "We're back under the Ysalamiri sphere of influence. Did you feel anything just now?"

Nirri answered, "I did feel something of a sort. Reminded me of when as a small child I would hide under my blanket and sounds were muffled and it was a little harder to breath."

He said, "That's the Force being pushed away. Imagine if you can, what it feels like for me, someone who has had the Force since the day he was born, how it feels to lose a very piece of what it is that makes me who and what I am and you'll consider yourself lucky that it only feels like a blanket has been tossed over your head."

Arriving at the main entrance, Acks was there as well as a line of people to get in already. Acks waved Ryu and Nirri in and went back to his weapons search console. Going directly to the fighter's rest area while Nirri went to the betting kiosk, Ryu set his bag down on the bench and started a light warm up routine of stretches and shadow boxing to prepare. The monitor was showing highlights of the first day's fights. A little later, Nirri came in and sat down on the bench next to Ryu's bag while he performed a set of crossover splits on the floor.

As he stretched, Nirri asked, "Ryu, if I decide to go to the Temple with you, what happens then?"

He said, "First, I'll take you to the Council chambers in the Spire so that they can meet you. We no longer turn away prospective students if they're too old. In fact, there is no such thing as too old anymore; at least to our way of thinking. Certainly, if someone is past middle age for their species, we won't expect them to learn the Ataru system of lightsaber fighting, but they may find as they open themselves to the Force that they can jump a little further, a little higher, or more accurately when they need to. You would be assigned a room in the Temple until a Master is chosen for you and you would start to attend the general classes of other Force Sensitives. There are no written tests, lots of oral ones though. Some of the classes you go to are general knowledge with little or nothing to do with the Force at all, others, later on are nothing but learning how to commune with the Force."

Nirri contemplated a moment and then said, "What about days off to relax or just to get out of the Temple for a day? Could I still place some bets if I want or go shopping or out to eat? Seems kind of unreasonable to expect someone to stay entirely within the Temple grounds for the years it would take to learn what is expected."

Ryu chuckled and said, "For someone like you Nirri, who's been on their own for as long as you have, allowances can be made with little or no difficulty. Gambling in and of itself is discouraged only because if you happen to be gifted with Farsight, as it seems you may, it would be unkind to say the least, to those who can't. Also, you won't need money per se as that the Temple will supply you with everything you need. In time, you'll come to see that money is really not the important. Look at me, I could place bets on myself but I don't. There are those that consider me and my wife to be wealthy as that our school turns a healthy profit every month but most of that is put right back into it so that all my students, Force Sensitive and normal; can have the best equipment and facilities to train in. What little money I and my wife keep for ourselves is spent on only what we need to live what we consider the good life. Rent, food, the same sorts of things that anyone else needs to live. You may find as well that you won't need very many clothes. In truth, most of my clothes are some combination of what you see me wearing right now and I don't ever feel out of place. Although I do have a couple of nice suits, those are only for really special occasions like my wedding anniversary where what I'm wearing just wouldn't be appropriate."

As Ryu finished speaking, Barab the Barabel came up to him. Ryu recovered from his splits and stood to look up into the face of the two meter tall nonhuman.

Barab said in slightly mangled Basic, "If meet, I no fight you. You wise Jedi. Barabels no fight Jedi . . . ever."

Ryu said, "I appreciate the thought, but I don't think I'm a wise man at all. It's just how I am."

Barab made the hissing equivalent of laughter, "You wise Jedi, you know you not wise. That makes you wise."

Choosing not to comment on the circular logic of the statement, Ryu said, "You say you won't fight a Jedi, but you attacked my son. Why?"

Barab spoke in a low hissing whisper, "Not know was your youngling. Not know he Jedi at all until blue fire hit us. Was just a job to me. Would never hurt Jedi youngling or adult if knew. Will talk after fights today; tell you what you want to know then."

Barab walked away leaving Ryu to wonder what he would learn later. Turning to Nirri he said, "Hand me my fighting gear please and the package of power cells next to it as well, would you Nirri?"

Nirri handed Ryu his foot gear first so that he could change out the power cells and then put them on his feet. When he did the same thing for his hand gear, the announcement came over the speakers, "Ryu Jayks, to the fighting platform . . . Ryu Jayks to the fighting platform."

Adjusting his hand gear one last time and checking to make sure his headband was tied properly, Ryu walked out of the rest area with Nirri close behind and into the passageway that led to the arena itself. The crowd noise could already be heard and only got louder as Ryu got closer. Going through the last set of doors was like walking into a wall of sound as the spectators in their seats cheered or booed even louder. Stepping onto the platform found Ryu face to face with Xoran who was in a different but no less flashy suit of clothes.

Xoran spoke, "Please help me welcome our guest fighter back to the Demon's Battle Cave, Ryu Jayks!" The crowd noise increased all through the tiers of seats and signs were held up over heads here and there. Some messages were encouraging, others, not so much.

Xoran's voice issued from the speakers again, "Our guest fighter, showing his warrior's mettle and fighting spirit, even after losing his greatest power thanks to our little friend overhead, the Ysalamiri, triumphed over two fighters, Gondo Krel and Velish Cor but took some damage in the process. How do you feel today Master Jedi? Still a little sore? Or are you rested and ready to fight again?"

Ryu ignored the jibe which set the crowd off again in another flurry of cheers or hisses.

Xoran took it in stride, "As ever, our guest fighter shows his integrity with his silence. So be it. There has been a slight change to today's fight card fans! One of our finalists from yesterday, the older of the two Zabraks, Ogan Ooth was arrested on outstanding warrants leaving his younger brother Tomar Ooth to fight today. I'll leave it to you, the fans, to decide which one of our seven remaining finalists from yesterday gets to fight twice today!"

In only a few seconds the crowd made their choice known. In chanting unison, the majority of the crowd could be heard, "Jedi . . . Jedi . . . Jedi!"

Xoran turned off his amplifier a moment while the crowd kept chanting and said, to Ryu, "Don't look at me Master Jedi, I had nothing to do with Ogan Ooth's arrest, or with you being chosen to fight twice today. You can hear for yourself, the fans have spoken."

Ryu said in a low voice, "Good one Xoran. If I were to buy that for a credit, I'll just bet you'd throw in the Imperial Palace for free, to sweeten the deal. Like you pointed out, this is your world we're in and you make all the rules, so just get on with it. The sooner I get done today, the closer I get to you."

Xoran smiled mirthlessly, turned his amplifier back on and said, "Let's hear it for our guest fighter again! He's just informed me that he'll fight!"

The crowd roared louder than ever as Xoran brought in Ryu's first opponent. "Our first fight today, brings us one of our rarest fighters to enter the Cave, the Blood Carver who refused to give a name when it entered the lists for this tournament. Let's hear it for the Blood Carver!"

The iridescent gold person entered the arena. Though it looked willowy and fragile, Ryu knew that the Blood Carvers as a species were anything but willowy and fragile. The three jointed arms and legs made it practically impossible to put any kind of a submission hold on them. As the Carver stepped up onto the platform, Ryu could see that the fleshy flaps on its face bore only one matched pair of tattoos, one on each flap, which told Ryu that it was just getting started in what was widely considered the true art of the Blood Carvers, the art of assassination. Ryu saw that its fighting gear had special sheathes over each of its hand and foot claws. That told him that this was not going to be an assassination, only a fight.

Xoran spoke again, "The Blood Carver has just returned to Coruscant from who knows where, and entered this event at the last minute so we have no statistics to share with you but than only makes it all the more sweet. Let the fight begin!"

The moment Xoran was off of the platform, Ryu went into his stance. The Carver jumped at Ryu, but seeing the intent through the Ki, Ryu stepped back out of range. The moment the Carver landed, Ryu closed the distance by moving across the platform and executing a flip kick that caught the Carver directly under the chin with his instep. The Carver's spine arched with the recoil from the kick, and the shock, as Ryu landed, only to be hit with another flip kick as the Carver returned to a standing position. As the Carver returned to a standing position again, its nostril flaps spread wide to indicate both a question as if to say, 'What just happened?' and also respect as if to say, 'What do you know? I am defeated.' The Carver collapsed right where it stood. The silence in the tiered stands of seats was thick enough to be cut into bite size pieces and eaten, if it were possible until first one section of the spectators started to clap and cheer, their reaction quickly spreading to other adjoining sections until the entire arena was cheering, clapping or hissing and booing.

Xoran came back onto the platform and activating his amplifier said, "Well now . . . that was certainly quick. Unexpectedly quick, but quick just the same. Once again, our guest fighter shows why he earned the title of 'Galaxy's Strongest' all those years ago. That being said, should we bring in his next opponent or let him wait awhile? What do you say?"

The audience started chanting right away, "Fight . . . fight . . . FIGHT!"

Xoran nodded and said, "There you have it. For your enjoyment then, let's bring in the next fighter!"

From the direction of the fighters' rest area, the Chiss could be seen to enter. His jet black hair had been slicked back and his glowing red eyes seemed to stand out against his blue skin. As he stepped up onto the platform it could be seen that he was about the same height as Ryu, give or take a centimeter and his fighting gear showed the clear and unmistakable signs of use.

Xoran said, "Our entrant today hails from the Chiss Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions but brings with him an impressive record of 29-5-1. Please welcome to the Demon's Battle Cave, Mindor'oth'enures, or Rothen for simplicity's sake."

The crowd cheered and cheered.

The Chiss stepped into his fighting position and Ryu into his. Both fighters could see something of a kindred spirit in the other. Neither one had a use for, and even less time, to waste on the pomp and circumstance that Xoran was using.

Xoran said, "Well it looks like our two fighters are ready to go! Very well then . . . FIGHT!"